Rumor mills over the last few months have been gently (or not-so-gently) whispering that Philadelphia Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas would be taking on new challenges as the city becomes further challenged by funding issues, even as 4 new innovative high schools open to great acclaim nationally and internationally.

Note: DS awarded one of these schools a “Recognized Value” Award in 2007 and has also published the design/pedagogy story by the founding principal of another new Philly school, so we’ve been keeping an eye on the city’s efforts to reinvigorate the design of learning environments and programs along the way.

Where is Vallas going?

Louisiana education superintendent Paul Pastorek announced Friday that Philadelphia Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas would become superintendent of the state’s Recovery School District, which oversees most of the schools in New Orleans.

Vallas, who consulted for Louisiana last winter, is just one of a series of consultants the state has tapped since Katrina as it tries to rebuild a school system that, even before the storm, was among the nation’s most troubled. Advocates consider the rebuilding of the New Orleans school system a chance to showcase the private sector’s potential in urban school reform. Private groups are helping finance charter schools and are supporting non-profits that are recruiting badly needed teachers and principals.

Given the enormous state of challenge and opportunity, one can easily see why bringing Vallas on to lead this recovery process would be a critical decision. Hopefully the ‘design’ of new learning environments for New Orleans and surrounding communities will speak to the future of learning in the process.

And one can imagine that any potential book that Vallas will write in the coming years that speaks to the leadership/innovation question for urban public schools in the future — given his roles leading Chicago, Philly, and now this re-building program as well — will be worth keeping an eye open for.